


i've always known it, you're the other half of my broken heart

by sarawatines



Category: My Engineer (TV)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Drunken Confessions, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Healthy Communication, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mild Angst, Mutual Pining, Not So Unrequited Love, Slow Burn, Soft boys being soft, and there was only one bed, and they were ROOMMATES, coffeshop au, literally all the tropes out there, vague mentions of past trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 06:07:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24240007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarawatines/pseuds/sarawatines
Summary: King spent the better half of the last six month cataloging every little detail about the mysterious boy that always came to the coffee shop where he worked. He was perfectly content with pinning from afar but that all changes when said mysterious boy shows up one night soaking wet in desperate need of shelter. Somehow after that night he goes from hopelessly yearning to this: pretending to date Ram as a way of getting his parents off his back and living together. Things only get worse when Ram makes it very clear he's not interested in anything other than platonic friendship. Shit. Life just got a lot more twisted.
Relationships: King/Ram (My Engineer)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 56





	i've always known it, you're the other half of my broken heart

**Author's Note:**

> and here it is! the ramking coffee shop, roommates, AND fake dating au i mentioned on tumblr since i couldn't decide between which one to do. basically: you get all three + a bunch of other tropes i just have yet to reveal yet. this fic can be summed up as being a "slowburn romcom with a sprinkle of angst" and you know what? it's what they deserve. anyways enjoy and the next chapter will be up soon :)

King was not sure when the fascination started but perhaps it was somewhere between the time Ram flashed him a truly intoxicating smile and when he first said something that _didn't_ have to do with his drink order. It was at those precise moments that he had to admit that what he felt was anything but platonic. _He had a stupid crush on a boy who never talked to him, who even refused to tell him his name._ Not that he would ever say that to his coworkers (despite the constant barbs they send his way) or his sister. No, to them he just pretended like he was curious about this quiet and strange boy who always came in the shop the same day every week. 

He even only sat in this one specific table and if it wasn't available he would wait. He had a habit of only ordering the same drink—peppermint tea with one and a half spoonfuls of honey—no matter how many times King tried to coax him to try something else. The only thing that wasn't consistent was what he ordered to eat. 

Despite refusing to tell King his name he allowed the other to decide that. There was no exchange of words ( _there never was_ ) yet both were on the same page. It started a few months ago, right in the middle of finals week, when King noticed how exhausted the younger looked. He was on his fourth cup of tea when King started to worry. It's not like the tea had much caffeine but he's been camped out in that same spot for nearly three hours now. _How could he study for his exam on an empty stomach?_ That's all it took for King to make it a habit of bringing over various pastries and sandwiches he thought Ram would like. King was giving them to him at no charge, much to the dismay of his boss, so after a while Ram started to pay for them. It made no sense why he had to considering he never asked for them in the first place yet he ate every single one. Even if he scrunched his nose up in disgust or pushed the food around with his fork for an hour by the time he left it would be nearly gone.

Either King's choices were spot on and he managed to get it right every time or Ram just didn't want to waste anything. _King was going with the latter._ He had a habit of never leaving even a drop of tea left in his cup. 

Ram was truly a walking contradiction sometimes and it drove King mad. On the outside he looked like this tough badass, covered in more tattoos than King can count and always sporting the same black ripped jeans yet if you really studied him you would realize he was anything but that. Even his face was a contradiction. He was pretty, with long eyelashes that fanned his round eyes that was a cross between two things: an espresso (King’s least favorite coffee drink that was slowly turning into his favorite for that exact reason) and the honey Ram liked to pour in his tea. King spent months trying to find the right word to describe the shade but never came close to figuring it out so he would settle for that if anyone asked. _Honey espresso. Espresso honey. Either way King was starting to become fond of more than just the bitter drink._

His lips on the other hand were the same shade of _coralline algae_ —not quite red and not quite pink. It was a mixture of the two resulting in something that should be classified as criminal for how distracting they were. Before Ram, King never paid much attention to things like that before. He didn’t even pay attention that much to the few fleeting crushes he had during high school. _But with Ram he noticed everything._

It was kind of hard not to considering the seat he always sat in was directly in front of the counter. It also helped that the coffee shop he worked in was almost always dead when Ram came in. _It was easy for his gaze to fall on the other as he flipped through his textbooks or typed away at his computer. Easy for King to catalogue every little freckle that was dusted upon his pale skin._ Easy to decipher that despite his cold exterior he was genuinely sweet as the tea he loved to drink. 

Yeah, King had a crush on Ram. _A very small one. It's not like he was halfway in love with him already._ That would be crazy because he didn't even know him. The only reason he knew his name was that they were in the same faculty. _Ram. That name fit him perfectly—he did end up ramming his way into King's heart after all._ Yet King never called him by that for the simple fact that he _wanted_ Ram to tell him it. There was a reason Ram never told him it in the first place right? King would respect that decision and wait as long as it took because it would be worth it. In fact the longer this went on the more satisfying it would be when he spoke those words. Plus, he was quite fond of the moniker he gave him a few months ago: _Cool Boy._ King tried a few different names but ultimately settled on that when he noticed Ram didn't narrow his eyes at it. Sometimes he would even smile, not a full out one, but one that was soft and shy. _Cool Boy_ it was.

Tonight was Friday which meant that Ram would not be at the shop, much to King's disappointment, so he resigned himself to actually get some work done. It's not like his boss actually cared that he didn't work but King knew that his luck would only go so far. He was scrubbing the coffee cups that were used earlier when he heard the jangle of bells signifying that someone was here. He didn't bother to turn around assuming it was just Boss ( _because he always came this late at night in order to get the untouched food that would be thrown away the next day)_ and continued his ministrations on the cup. 

"Just go ahead and get it yourself Boss. I'm busy."

He waited for Boss to speak but never did which was unusual. The shorter boy almost never shut up. Instead he just heard two things: heavy breathing and the soft downpour of rain that was hitting the windows. Another reason why he decided to be productive—he didn't want to get soaked. He was planning on waiting it out for as long as it took and if worse came to worse he would call a taxi to take him home. The heavy breathing part is what really made him turn around. This area was fairly safe but it was late at night and there was no one else here. He expected to see Bos or a possible masked killed but instead saw...Ram.

Ram was standing in the middle of the coffee shop soaked head to toe. Even from this distance King could see how much he was trembling. He had a book bag slung across his shoulder while the other was clutching his phone. This image of Ram was somehow even more terrifying than a mask killer would have been so in surprise the cup he was holding slipped out of his grasp and landed on the ground with a deafening thump. The whole entire thing shattered into a million little pieces but King didn't care about that. Not really. He was more worried around Ram.

"Cool Boy?" King asked cautiously, noticing how he seemed to vibrate with energy, possibly from the cold or anger. “Are you okay?”

Ram didn’t speak but just shook his head. It was barely noticeable but considering King spent the better half of the last six months becoming an expert in all these subtle moments he had no trouble detecting it. 

Stepping over the broken cup, King grabbed a towel off the counter and made his way over to Ram. He made sure to keep his movements slow so that it wouldn’t spook him away—the look in his eye right now was a cross between pain and anger. He was unsure what he would actually do when he reached him. Should he pull him in for a hug? No that would just bring comfort to King rather than Ram. Should he lay a hand on his shoulder? His arm? Pretend like the fact that Ram was soaking wet and near tears was perfectly normal? In the time it took him to walk over he made his decision: let Ram decide how to proceed.

He held the towel out to Ram in silence and when the other didn’t grab for it King nodded his head. “This is all I have to dry you off. Just take it okay?” 

A few seconds ticked by before Ram decided to take it and King desperately tried to ignore how his heart seemed to speed up when their fingers grazed each other. _Nope. Snap out of it. Now was not the time for this._ He cleared his throat and averted his eyes as Ram swiped the moisture away with the towel. Whether it was from rain or tears King had no idea. Maybe both. What was the cause of this? Better yet why did he decide to come here of all places? 

King was pretending to study one of the many artworks on the wall even though he was hyper aware of _every_ move Ram was making right now. He did this partially to give Ram some privacy and for his own selfish needs. He needed to calm down and make sure his mouth didn’t fly off before he could think it through. King was typically someone who was calm and collected. There was never a day in his life where he didn’t have a plethora of words at his disposal. Except when he was around Ram. Suddenly, King lacked the ability to form coherent sentences. It seemed like every word he uttered was inconsequential to what he really wanted to say. It was ironic that Ram’s presence brought him both immense comfort and anxiety. 

He was far too busy wrapped up in his own thoughts that he nearly fell over when Ram spoke. “Can I borrow your phone?” Ram just spoke. _He spoke five whole words. Directed at King. That was the longest thing he has ever said that was not related to what he ordered to drink._ He bit down the grin that threatened to take its place as a permanent feature on his face. If King remembers correctly this made the total words spoken in the last six months to 32. Not that he was counting or anything. That was just a rough estimate.

“My phone?” King turned around in confusion. “Why?”

If you asked King if he purposely feigned confusion so that Ram would have to speak again he would say that was a lie. _Especially when his plan (that was definitely not a plan) backfired._ Rather than speaking he just held up his phone, King only now noticing that the screen was shattered. _Oh. Right._ King laughed awkwardly before slipping his phone out of his pocket and handed it over. He only watched Ram for a few moments as his slender fingers slid over the screen before turning on his heel to clean the mess he made earlier. “Uh, I should go clean that up. Let me know when you’re done.” 

The words might as well fell on deaf ears because Ram didn’t even lift his head up to acknowledge it. Confusion was clear on his face—he was probably trying to remember a phone number but was failing miserably at trying to recall it. Not that King blamed him. The only number he knew by heart was his parents. Most people in this day and age only seemed to know that but the way Ram was struggling meant that he didn’t know it or he was purposely avoiding his parents. 

King didn’t know how he seemed to know that but it probably had to do with all the months he looked at him from afar. Plus all the times he overheard him on the phone with his parents. _He never paid attention to them long enough though because doing that would surely head into creepy territory._ Still, King would guess that he was fairly close with them. _That meant that the state Ram was in right now was related to them._

He only allowed himself to steal a few glances at Ram while he cleaned up the cup, cursing under his breath when a piece of the porcelain cut one of his fingertips in his haste to pick it up. After a while Ram figured out who to call but in the silence of the shop King heard how every time he dialed it no one picked up. It was the fifth time that automatic voicemail message played and right when King brought his finger to mouth soothe away the pain when Ram gave up. 

King was still crouching on the ground when Ram approached him, reaching his hand down to give him back the phone. For someone so tall and big as Ram he sure was light on his feet. His eyes briefly drifted to King’s finger that his lips were sucking on, his own pursing slightly in concern. _Which King definitely did not notice. Not at all._ An awkward silence engulfed the room as Ram continued to intently stare at King with an unreadable expression on his face. His cheeks were slightly tinged with pink but King just chalked it up to exhaustion. It was clear from the start that Ram was somehow who could not hide his blush, whether this had to do with the fact that he was paler than most or because he was easily flustered. 

As much as King liked the way Ram was staring at him he was starting to panic big time. He might have hoped one day his crush would look at him like this but now that it was actually happening he wished to disappear. _Stop it_ he wanted to say _stop looking at me like that because if you do it any longer I might just confess my feelings._ Confessing his feelings was the last thing he needed to do in this situation so he stood up and dropped his finger from his mouth, breaking whatever spell Ram was in. He wiped his finger on his apron before attempting to salvage whatever was left of his dignity. “No one would pick up?”

Ram shook his head in reply before fidgeting with the strap of his backpack. _That wasn’t good. If he didn’t want to go home tonight and none of his friends would answer where would he go?_ It was too late to find a room at a hotel right now, at least one that was in someplace safe, although Ram looked like he was definitely capable of protecting himself. Still, King disliked the idea of that. “You came here because you had no other place to go, right?” King asked softly and by the way Ram’s head snapped up in surprise it was clear that he was correct in his assumption. 

“You don’t want to go home for whatever reason. Is it because you had a fight with your parents?” After noticing the conflicted look on Ram’s face King backtracked. “You don’t have to answer that. Just nod your head if I’m correct, okay?”

It took Ram a few seconds but he nodded. _King had no idea where he was going with this but it was clear that he had no one else at the moment._

“It was a really bad one judging by the fact that you walked in the rain here.” King received a nod in reply. “You can’t get a hold of your friends.” _Yes._ “You came here because...you thought you could trust me? Even though we barely know each other?” This time Ram was hesitant to answer but still ended up nodding.

That was a surprise. For as long as Ram has been coming to the shop King just assumed the fascination was only one sided. _Was his glares in the past from annoyance or stemmed from somewhere else?_ No. No King could not allow himself to go down the path. Ram was just used to coming here. His weekly visits never went on without fail so it made sense that he would go to a place that brought him comfort. King being here tonight night was just a coincidence. He would have asked for help from any of the other people who worked here.

“Do you have any place to stay tonight?” King hedged on already knowing the answer as a stupid idea began to rattle around in his head.

“No,” Ram admitted, “I don’t.” 

If King was smart he would have helped the younger boy look for a hotel somewhere else. He might even suggest that he would pay for a taxi to drop him off at one of his friends. Anything was better than what he actually said. “Come home with me.” 

_Shit. There he goes again. Saying something without thinking it through._ He closed his eyes for a moment and really wished he had the ability to magically transport himself somewhere else. After a few seconds of awkward silence he let his eyes flutter open to gauge Ram’s reaction and was surprised to see he didn’t look completely disgusted. The sheer look of panic of his face could be seen from even miles away but he looked as if he was considering it. “I mean,” King tried again, “you can stay at my place tonight if you want since you can’t get a hold of anyone. You don’t have to but...the offer is there if you want to take it.” 

_That is what he should have said in the first place instead of what was insinuated before._ “Are you sure?” Thirty-eight words. The total was up to thirty-eight wonderful words. 

King had the chance to take back his words. That is what he should do. _What he needed to do._ Yet he didn’t want to so he flashed Ram a smile that he hoped conveyed his reassurance rather than one that a crazed psychopath would give. They were somewhere in between complete strangers and acquaintances so his proposal did come out of left field. Ram’s agreement, however, came as a shock. “Okay.” 

_Okay. Ram was coming home with him. That simple word was enough to make King practically delirious with glee—and absolutely terrified at the prospect spending the night with him._ He really was content with helplessly pining from the counter but maybe this would be his chance. Not to take advantage of Ram in his vulnerable state, he would never do that, but to finally give King a push in the right direction. At the very least they could leave this night as friends and friends was something King could settle for. 

* * *

It took King only twenty minutes to make sure everything was locked up and ready to go for tomorrow. After stuffing his apron in his bag he picked up the to-go cup full of peppermint tea he made to warm Ram up and shut off the lights. Ram made some vague gesture toward the outside of the shop a few minutes ago, most likely so that he wouldn’t be in the way. Once he was outside though Ram was nowhere to be found and King couldn’t help but frown in confusion. “ _Cool Boy?”_ He received no reply. Was he second guessing his decision? Did he already leave? No. His backpack was perched against one of the walls of the shop. Maybe he was just around the corner? The rainstorm from earlier let up so now there was only a light drizzle but thankfully King brought his umbrella. He just didn’t want to go out in a downpour. He didn’t bother to open it though since there was an awning that protected customers from getting wet in this exact situation. 

“Cool Boy?” He tried again. “Where did you go?” King slowly made his way around the corner but immediately regretted his decision to do so when he came face to face to a _pack of dogs._ Three to be exact, all massive, tied to a pole that was underneath the awning. They weren’t barking but it was enough to send him into a panic. _Shit. Shit._ He let out what could only be described as a shriek before stumbling backwards in fear only to bump into something hard, the cup of tea tumbling to the ground. He let out another scream as a pair of hands shot out to steady him. “It’s okay. It’s me. Calm down.” Ram’s voice was low and sleuthing, most likely so it would not upset the dogs rather than him.

_Ram. It was just Ram._ He didn’t bother to turn around because that made him vulnerable. Ever since that day King made sure to never expose his back to dogs and he certainly wasn’t going to do it now even if they were tied up. Unconsciously he leaned into Ram’s touch—he just had his hands on King’s shoulder but it was enough to bring him comfort—chest heaving. “Where,” He hissed, “did they come from?” _Who the hell left them here?_

“I did.” Ram whispered. “I’m sorry I forgot that you were scared of them.”

How did Ram know he was scared of dogs? It wasn’t something that was commonly known. He let out shudder as one of the dogs leaned forward, baring its teeth and barking. Something inside King told him that it wasn’t vicious and could be perceived as friendly but he was far too scared to admit that. Once again he leaned as much as he could into the others embrace, trying to push away the memory of what happened years ago. When he didn’t automatically reply Ram gave one of shoulders a firm squeeze as a way to anchor him back to reality. “King?”

“Yeah, Cool Boy?” 

“I’ll just go to a hotel tonight.” 

Although he was terrified and every part of him was screaming inside to _not_ look away from the dogs he did. _No. That is not what he wanted._ Glancing over his shoulder he was momentarily speechless over the fact that Ram’s face was very close to his own. The fact that he kept his eyes trained on the others rather than his lips goes to show just how freaked out he was. “You don’t have to. You can bring them.” 

Ram didn’t look like he believed him so for an extra measure King smiled, cringing on the inside when he realized how strained it probably looked. “But you’re scared of them.” 

_That much was true but his need to help King outweighed his fear. Besides, he left his house with only a backpack of his most prized possessions. If he brought the dogs then they must be important to him._ “No hotel around here will allow dogs.” King shot back. “Just...for tonight. They can stay tonight. We can just keep them in a room.”

There it was again: that intense look that Ram had on his face earlier. This time his gaze was not focused on his lips but instead his eyes. _It was intimidating. It was thrilling. It was enough to make him forget all about the fact that the thing he ultimately feared was only a few feet away._ “Are you sure?” Ram repeated his question from earlier.

“ _Yes,”_ He breathed, “ _Yes I’m sure Cool Boy. Let’s go home.”_

What the hell is he getting himself into?

**Author's Note:**

> Clarifications:  
> 1) I know in the show King has been in Denial the whole time in the show but shall I offer you this instead: yearning King and oblivious Ram.  
> 2) This is an AU but not a complete one: King and Ram still go to the same university/has the same friend groups they just haven’t crossed paths like that yet  
> 3) Coralline algae is a type of algae that is typically pink/red/purple. I could of said just pink but King is Plant Man™ so he would 100% compare his crushes lips to a plant.  
> 4) The title of the fic comes from the song “if this is love” by Ruth B. but the chapter title is taken from “come home with me” from hadestown the musical. king gives big orpheus vibes in this fic
> 
> Feel free to scream with me over ramking on my tumblr [here](https://sarawatiness.tumblr.com/)


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